23rd March - Today's News: Severe Storm Batters Perth, Australia

After a very long dry summer, there was chaos as freak storm batters Australia's Perth - with Perth reeling from freak storm; thousands losing power, 120kmh winds, golf ball sized hailstones and up to 79mm of rain, it's little wonder they're calling Perth storm 'a natural disaster'.

Elsewhere in Australia, sheep take to the skies to escape floods while in the Whitsunday's Hamilton Island like a bomb site after Cyclone Ului

Earlier news was that Iceland eruption remains stable however this morning it appears that Keflavik and Reykjavik airports were again closed for a time due to volcanic activity. And it's likely to be some time yet before we know whether or not Katla may erupt. If it does, then based on geological evidence from previous eruptions, we could see ash clouds fall over a large part of Europe. Now wouldn't that be fun!

Relief in N Dakota, Fargo spared as Red River crests

A bit of extraterrestrial weather here: helium rain on Jupiter explains lack of neon in atmosphere

World has underestimated climate-change effects, expert argues - claiming that
Even if all man-made greenhouse gas emissions were stopped tomorrow and carbon-dioxide levels stabilized at today's concentration, by the end of this century the global average temperature would increase by about 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 2.4 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels, which is significantly above the level which scientists and policymakers agree is a threshold for dangerous climate change
More worryingly - if he's right - this is based solely on the warming effects of CO2, and not other factors such as land use change and black carbon, which in some areas at least are possibly a more significant cause of warming. One day we'll see someone come along and point this out: that even if we stopped all CO2 emissions and/or if 'Greenhouse gases' had no effect whatsoever on temperature, we will still see a steady rise in global temps over the next few decades due to human activity. I shalln't hold my breath though.

Slightly better news for us carnivores: eating less meat and dairy products won't have major impact on global warming. Not burning down any more rainforests to grow unnecessary crops like soya and palm oil might ......

A warning in Scotland of avalanche threat to transport network - assuming of course we ever get another good snowy winter! Or is SAIS just touting for more money? Also in Scotland, blade snaps off huge wind turbine. Wasn't me guv, 'onest!

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